Eugene Kanyugo, Composer

What do I do? Law student, pianist and bass guitarist.

Current projects: Band-assery (with musical arrangements on Rambo Bambo Boom) Why am I here? Currently battling with the struggle every lost soul in the artistic world with a foot anywhere else does.

Where do I go, which one is for me, where do they meet? But one thing is for sure. Kanyugo is a law student by choice; a musician by heart; and powerful beyond measure to make those worlds meet and make the ends more than do so too while at it.

Why Band-assery? Right question is, why the hell not? Going berserk with the grooviest Kenyan criminal and musical influences from back in the day not only excites the musical bone in me, but I get to work with the most hilarious and amazing humans who could only but have been idols to me before some of these projects. So yes, not only do I get to share my skill and talent in music with some of the most creative writers and musicians in the industry, but I guess it doesn’t hurt to occasionally save them from potential intellectual property offences in the process.

Thanks NBO MTI (Kanyugo Out!)

Mayonde Masya, Writer & Composer

Mayonde is a singer, songwriter from Nairobi Kenya, who makes soulful music that draws inspiration from several genres including R&B, Jazz, Hip-Hop and House Music. She has performed on various world stages, having toured Europe in the musical theatre show, Out of Africa -The Magic of Kenya, as well as working with the well renowned Metropole Orkest, at the MasterPeace Amsterdam Concert in 2014 for an audience of 16,000 people. She was also headlined at the Kigali Jazz Junction, a popular monthly event in Rwanda held at the Kigali Serena Hotel.

In November 2017, Mayonde was chosen to represent her country at the World Youth Forum in Sharm El Sheikh Egypt. She was featured in the World Youth Forum song which she recorded in Cairo with other artists from around the world and the music video has garnered over five million views on YouTube so far. 

She has worked with some of the biggest African and International pop acts on the hit television show, Coke Studio Africa, including Yemi Alade, Burna Boy, Diamond Platnumz, Sauti Sol and Ne-yo for two successful seasons. Her critically acclaimed debut album, Magic In The Air, was released in December 2015 and got the top spot for Best Kenyan Album on Bottomline Kenya. Venturing onto the big screen, Mayonde worked on the musical score for the award-winning Kenyan film Kati Kati with the Junge Orkest and performed it live with the orchestra at the film's European premiere in Berlin, Germany.  A few of her radio hit singles include 'I'm Feeling It' alongside Muthoni the Drummer Queen and Blinky Bill, Kama Kawaida produced by Kagwe Mungai, featuring Fena Gitu as well as her single Nairobi with renowned rapper Stonee Jiwe. The singles have attained great airplay on Kenyan and Pan- African radio stations. 

Tina Nduba -Banja, Writer & Composer

Tina Nduba Banja is a Kenyan/Rwandese playwright based in Nairobi, Kenya. She has written and co-written several local musicals including, the Unforgettable Dance, Gangster’s Paradise, Bethel & Hem and Family Reunion. Her 2019 play, the Money That Made Him Poor was produces by Tony Tini Tone and staged in the Loius Leakey platform at the National Museum.

She has also written for television. Her writing credits include co-writing local Kenyan television shows One in a Million and the television musical series Groove Theory. Groove Theory picked up four nominations for the annual Kalasha Film & TV Awards in Kenya and won for Best TV Drama.

Tina is currently collaborating, as a book writer, on two musical projects, Don’t Turn Off the Lights, a delightful and powerful children’s story about overcoming fear and Rambo Bambo Boom, a whimsical Kenyan sci-fi about aliens landing in Nairobi.